Saturday, August 11, 2012

Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Readers Choice Awards Best New Water Park Ride of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Theme Park Show of 2011
  • Best New Roller Coaster of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Readers Choice Awards Best New Roller Coaster of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Theme Park Show of 2011
  • Best New Water Park Ride of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Back from the Dead

It's always good news when a defunct theme park gets a new lease on life. That's why I'm happy to report that the shuttered Ghost Town in the Sky (which is sort of an ironic name at this point, eh?) will be reopening later this summer. According to the park, which is located in the Smoky Mountains community of Maggie Valley, North Carolina, the initial phase will include revving up the chairlift ride that shuttles visitors 3500 feet up Buck Mountain as well as the kiddie rides, a museum, and a restaurant that they will be able to explore when they disembark high in the sky. At the base of the mountain, the park is adding two new zip lines.

Future phases will include additional zip lines, the rehabilitation of the inclined railway that has not operated since 2002, the revitalization of the park's Western-themed attractions, including cowboy shows and can-can dancing, and a Holy Land at the highest elevations of the mountainside property. There is no word what will become of the park's coasters, Cliff Hanger and Tumbleweed.

Ghost Town in the Sky originally opened in 1961, but has had a troubled history that has included multiple closures and bankruptcy. Its current owner, Alaska Presley (great name!) is one of the park's original investors. Here's hoping she doesn't give up the ghost on the project.

  • Carowinds- North Carolina amusement park
  • Dollywood- Smoky Mountains theme park

Texas Water Park Has Weather Covered or Not

Schlitterbahn South Padre Island, part of the popular Schlitterbahn chain, has a popular beachfront water park that will open for the season in April. Starting in the summer, however, there will no longer be an off-season when the adjacent Schlitterbahn Beach Resort, a hotel and indoor water park, opens. Designed to provide year-round, bathing suit-clad fun, the indoor water park will have a retractable roof that will open to the outdoors on warmer, weather-cooperating days. Read more about the Texas water park, Schlitterbahn South Padre Island.

  • More Texas water parks
  • Find indoor water parks

Connect with Arthur: Twitter | Facebook

Photo: Schlitterbahn. Used with permission.


Water Wizz Gets Ready for Its Close Up

Theme parks and water parks often serve as locations for feature films and TV shows. Kennywood stood in for Adventureland in the eponymous 2009 movie. And who could forget the Brady Bunch episode that was filmed at Kings Island? A somewhat under-the-radar park, Water Wizz in Wareham, Massachusetts, will serve as a site for the movie, The Way, Way Back, now filming in the state.

A coming-of-age story, the plot concerns a teenager who befriends the manager of -- well, what do you know? -- a water park. The movie will feature Steve Carell, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell (who plays the manager), and Rob Corddry, among others. Its screenwriters and co-directors, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (who plays the hilarious Dean Pelton on NBC's uber-hillarious Community), won the Academy Award for their adapted screenplay of last year's The Descendants. Maybe they could get George Clooney to play one of the water park's ride attendants who checks the heights of riders. Read more about Water Wizz.


Parks Still Dealing in 2012

Another year, another round of deals. The economy may be showing some signs of improvement, but that doesn't mean theme parks have cut back on their special offers to lure reluctant visitors. Among some of the latest deals that caught my eye:

  • Save up to 30% at select Walt Disney World Resort hotels this spring
  • Discounted SeaWorld Orlando and Aquatica Tickets- Save $10 off the gate price and get the 2nd day free.
  • Experience One More Disney Day with an Extra Day and Night for Free with a 3-night, 3-day package
  • 2012 SeaWorld San Diego Fun Card- Get unlimited admission to the California throughout 2012 for the price of a single-day ticket.

See more special offers:

  • The latest Florida theme park deals
  • The latest California theme park deals

Connect with Arthur: Twitter | Facebook


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Readers Choice Awards Best New Water Park Ride of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Theme Park Show of 2011
  • Best New Roller Coaster of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Readers Choice Awards Best New Theme Park Show of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Roller Coaster of 2011
  • Best New Water Park Ride of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.


Back from the Dead

It's always good news when a defunct theme park gets a new lease on life. That's why I'm happy to report that the shuttered Ghost Town in the Sky (which is sort of an ironic name at this point, eh?) will be reopening later this summer. According to the park, which is located in the Smoky Mountains community of Maggie Valley, North Carolina, the initial phase will include revving up the chairlift ride that shuttles visitors 3500 feet up Buck Mountain as well as the kiddie rides, a museum, and a restaurant that they will be able to explore when they disembark high in the sky. At the base of the mountain, the park is adding two new zip lines.

Future phases will include additional zip lines, the rehabilitation of the inclined railway that has not operated since 2002, the revitalization of the park's Western-themed attractions, including cowboy shows and can-can dancing, and a Holy Land at the highest elevations of the mountainside property. There is no word what will become of the park's coasters, Cliff Hanger and Tumbleweed.

Ghost Town in the Sky originally opened in 1961, but has had a troubled history that has included multiple closures and bankruptcy. Its current owner, Alaska Presley (great name!) is one of the park's original investors. Here's hoping she doesn't give up the ghost on the project.

  • Carowinds- North Carolina amusement park
  • Dollywood- Smoky Mountains theme park

Texas Water Park Has Weather Covered or Not

Schlitterbahn South Padre Island, part of the popular Schlitterbahn chain, has a popular beachfront water park that will open for the season in April. Starting in the summer, however, there will no longer be an off-season when the adjacent Schlitterbahn Beach Resort, a hotel and indoor water park, opens. Designed to provide year-round, bathing suit-clad fun, the indoor water park will have a retractable roof that will open to the outdoors on warmer, weather-cooperating days. Read more about the Texas water park, Schlitterbahn South Padre Island.

  • More Texas water parks
  • Find indoor water parks

Connect with Arthur: Twitter | Facebook

Photo: Schlitterbahn. Used with permission.


Water Wizz Gets Ready for Its Close Up

Theme parks and water parks often serve as locations for feature films and TV shows. Kennywood stood in for Adventureland in the eponymous 2009 movie. And who could forget the Brady Bunch episode that was filmed at Kings Island? A somewhat under-the-radar park, Water Wizz in Wareham, Massachusetts, will serve as a site for the movie, The Way, Way Back, now filming in the state.

A coming-of-age story, the plot concerns a teenager who befriends the manager of -- well, what do you know? -- a water park. The movie will feature Steve Carell, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell (who plays the manager), and Rob Corddry, among others. Its screenwriters and co-directors, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (who plays the hilarious Dean Pelton on NBC's uber-hillarious Community), won the Academy Award for their adapted screenplay of last year's The Descendants. Maybe they could get George Clooney to play one of the water park's ride attendants who checks the heights of riders. Read more about Water Wizz.


Parks Still Dealing in 2012

Another year, another round of deals. The economy may be showing some signs of improvement, but that doesn't mean theme parks have cut back on their special offers to lure reluctant visitors. Among some of the latest deals that caught my eye:

  • Save up to 30% at select Walt Disney World Resort hotels this spring
  • Discounted SeaWorld Orlando and Aquatica Tickets- Save $10 off the gate price and get the 2nd day free.
  • Experience One More Disney Day with an Extra Day and Night for Free with a 3-night, 3-day package
  • 2012 SeaWorld San Diego Fun Card- Get unlimited admission to the California throughout 2012 for the price of a single-day ticket.

See more special offers:

  • The latest Florida theme park deals
  • The latest California theme park deals

Connect with Arthur: Twitter | Facebook


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Readers Choice Awards Best New Water Park Ride of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Theme Park Show of 2011
  • Best New Roller Coaster of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Readers Choice Awards Best New Roller Coaster of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Theme Park Show of 2011
  • Best New Water Park Ride of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Readers Choice Awards Best New Theme Park Show of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Roller Coaster of 2011
  • Best New Water Park Ride of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.


Back from the Dead

It's always good news when a defunct theme park gets a new lease on life. That's why I'm happy to report that the shuttered Ghost Town in the Sky (which is sort of an ironic name at this point, eh?) will be reopening later this summer. According to the park, which is located in the Smoky Mountains community of Maggie Valley, North Carolina, the initial phase will include revving up the chairlift ride that shuttles visitors 3500 feet up Buck Mountain as well as the kiddie rides, a museum, and a restaurant that they will be able to explore when they disembark high in the sky. At the base of the mountain, the park is adding two new zip lines.

Future phases will include additional zip lines, the rehabilitation of the inclined railway that has not operated since 2002, the revitalization of the park's Western-themed attractions, including cowboy shows and can-can dancing, and a Holy Land at the highest elevations of the mountainside property. There is no word what will become of the park's coasters, Cliff Hanger and Tumbleweed.

Ghost Town in the Sky originally opened in 1961, but has had a troubled history that has included multiple closures and bankruptcy. Its current owner, Alaska Presley (great name!) is one of the park's original investors. Here's hoping she doesn't give up the ghost on the project.

  • Carowinds- North Carolina amusement park
  • Dollywood- Smoky Mountains theme park

Texas Water Park Has Weather Covered or Not

Schlitterbahn South Padre Island, part of the popular Schlitterbahn chain, has a popular beachfront water park that will open for the season in April. Starting in the summer, however, there will no longer be an off-season when the adjacent Schlitterbahn Beach Resort, a hotel and indoor water park, opens. Designed to provide year-round, bathing suit-clad fun, the indoor water park will have a retractable roof that will open to the outdoors on warmer, weather-cooperating days. Read more about the Texas water park, Schlitterbahn South Padre Island.

  • More Texas water parks
  • Find indoor water parks

Connect with Arthur: Twitter | Facebook

Photo: Schlitterbahn. Used with permission.


Water Wizz Gets Ready for Its Close Up

Theme parks and water parks often serve as locations for feature films and TV shows. Kennywood stood in for Adventureland in the eponymous 2009 movie. And who could forget the Brady Bunch episode that was filmed at Kings Island? A somewhat under-the-radar park, Water Wizz in Wareham, Massachusetts, will serve as a site for the movie, The Way, Way Back, now filming in the state.

A coming-of-age story, the plot concerns a teenager who befriends the manager of -- well, what do you know? -- a water park. The movie will feature Steve Carell, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell (who plays the manager), and Rob Corddry, among others. Its screenwriters and co-directors, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (who plays the hilarious Dean Pelton on NBC's uber-hillarious Community), won the Academy Award for their adapted screenplay of last year's The Descendants. Maybe they could get George Clooney to play one of the water park's ride attendants who checks the heights of riders. Read more about Water Wizz.


Parks Still Dealing in 2012

Another year, another round of deals. The economy may be showing some signs of improvement, but that doesn't mean theme parks have cut back on their special offers to lure reluctant visitors. Among some of the latest deals that caught my eye:

  • Save up to 30% at select Walt Disney World Resort hotels this spring
  • Discounted SeaWorld Orlando and Aquatica Tickets- Save $10 off the gate price and get the 2nd day free.
  • Experience One More Disney Day with an Extra Day and Night for Free with a 3-night, 3-day package
  • 2012 SeaWorld San Diego Fun Card- Get unlimited admission to the California throughout 2012 for the price of a single-day ticket.

See more special offers:

  • The latest Florida theme park deals
  • The latest California theme park deals

Connect with Arthur: Twitter | Facebook


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Readers Choice Awards Best New Water Park Ride of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Theme Park Show of 2011
  • Best New Roller Coaster of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Readers Choice Awards Best New Roller Coaster of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Theme Park Show of 2011
  • Best New Water Park Ride of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Readers Choice Awards Best New Theme Park Show of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Roller Coaster of 2011
  • Best New Water Park Ride of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.


Back from the Dead

It's always good news when a defunct theme park gets a new lease on life. That's why I'm happy to report that the shuttered Ghost Town in the Sky (which is sort of an ironic name at this point, eh?) will be reopening later this summer. According to the park, which is located in the Smoky Mountains community of Maggie Valley, North Carolina, the initial phase will include revving up the chairlift ride that shuttles visitors 3500 feet up Buck Mountain as well as the kiddie rides, a museum, and a restaurant that they will be able to explore when they disembark high in the sky. At the base of the mountain, the park is adding two new zip lines.

Future phases will include additional zip lines, the rehabilitation of the inclined railway that has not operated since 2002, the revitalization of the park's Western-themed attractions, including cowboy shows and can-can dancing, and a Holy Land at the highest elevations of the mountainside property. There is no word what will become of the park's coasters, Cliff Hanger and Tumbleweed.

Ghost Town in the Sky originally opened in 1961, but has had a troubled history that has included multiple closures and bankruptcy. Its current owner, Alaska Presley (great name!) is one of the park's original investors. Here's hoping she doesn't give up the ghost on the project.

  • Carowinds- North Carolina amusement park
  • Dollywood- Smoky Mountains theme park

Texas Water Park Has Weather Covered or Not

Schlitterbahn South Padre Island, part of the popular Schlitterbahn chain, has a popular beachfront water park that will open for the season in April. Starting in the summer, however, there will no longer be an off-season when the adjacent Schlitterbahn Beach Resort, a hotel and indoor water park, opens. Designed to provide year-round, bathing suit-clad fun, the indoor water park will have a retractable roof that will open to the outdoors on warmer, weather-cooperating days. Read more about the Texas water park, Schlitterbahn South Padre Island.

  • More Texas water parks
  • Find indoor water parks

Connect with Arthur: Twitter | Facebook

Photo: Schlitterbahn. Used with permission.


Water Wizz Gets Ready for Its Close Up

Theme parks and water parks often serve as locations for feature films and TV shows. Kennywood stood in for Adventureland in the eponymous 2009 movie. And who could forget the Brady Bunch episode that was filmed at Kings Island? A somewhat under-the-radar park, Water Wizz in Wareham, Massachusetts, will serve as a site for the movie, The Way, Way Back, now filming in the state.

A coming-of-age story, the plot concerns a teenager who befriends the manager of -- well, what do you know? -- a water park. The movie will feature Steve Carell, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell (who plays the manager), and Rob Corddry, among others. Its screenwriters and co-directors, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (who plays the hilarious Dean Pelton on NBC's uber-hillarious Community), won the Academy Award for their adapted screenplay of last year's The Descendants. Maybe they could get George Clooney to play one of the water park's ride attendants who checks the heights of riders. Read more about Water Wizz.


Parks Still Dealing in 2012

Another year, another round of deals. The economy may be showing some signs of improvement, but that doesn't mean theme parks have cut back on their special offers to lure reluctant visitors. Among some of the latest deals that caught my eye:

  • Save up to 30% at select Walt Disney World Resort hotels this spring
  • Discounted SeaWorld Orlando and Aquatica Tickets- Save $10 off the gate price and get the 2nd day free.
  • Experience One More Disney Day with an Extra Day and Night for Free with a 3-night, 3-day package
  • 2012 SeaWorld San Diego Fun Card- Get unlimited admission to the California throughout 2012 for the price of a single-day ticket.

See more special offers:

  • The latest Florida theme park deals
  • The latest California theme park deals

Connect with Arthur: Twitter | Facebook


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Readers Choice Awards Best New Water Park Ride of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Theme Park Show of 2011
  • Best New Roller Coaster of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Readers Choice Awards Best New Roller Coaster of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Theme Park Show of 2011
  • Best New Water Park Ride of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Readers Choice Awards Best New Theme Park Show of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Roller Coaster of 2011
  • Best New Water Park Ride of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.


Back from the Dead

It's always good news when a defunct theme park gets a new lease on life. That's why I'm happy to report that the shuttered Ghost Town in the Sky (which is sort of an ironic name at this point, eh?) will be reopening later this summer. According to the park, which is located in the Smoky Mountains community of Maggie Valley, North Carolina, the initial phase will include revving up the chairlift ride that shuttles visitors 3500 feet up Buck Mountain as well as the kiddie rides, a museum, and a restaurant that they will be able to explore when they disembark high in the sky. At the base of the mountain, the park is adding two new zip lines.

Future phases will include additional zip lines, the rehabilitation of the inclined railway that has not operated since 2002, the revitalization of the park's Western-themed attractions, including cowboy shows and can-can dancing, and a Holy Land at the highest elevations of the mountainside property. There is no word what will become of the park's coasters, Cliff Hanger and Tumbleweed.

Ghost Town in the Sky originally opened in 1961, but has had a troubled history that has included multiple closures and bankruptcy. Its current owner, Alaska Presley (great name!) is one of the park's original investors. Here's hoping she doesn't give up the ghost on the project.

  • Carowinds- North Carolina amusement park
  • Dollywood- Smoky Mountains theme park

Texas Water Park Has Weather Covered or Not

Schlitterbahn South Padre Island, part of the popular Schlitterbahn chain, has a popular beachfront water park that will open for the season in April. Starting in the summer, however, there will no longer be an off-season when the adjacent Schlitterbahn Beach Resort, a hotel and indoor water park, opens. Designed to provide year-round, bathing suit-clad fun, the indoor water park will have a retractable roof that will open to the outdoors on warmer, weather-cooperating days. Read more about the Texas water park, Schlitterbahn South Padre Island.

  • More Texas water parks
  • Find indoor water parks

Connect with Arthur: Twitter | Facebook

Photo: Schlitterbahn. Used with permission.


Water Wizz Gets Ready for Its Close Up

Theme parks and water parks often serve as locations for feature films and TV shows. Kennywood stood in for Adventureland in the eponymous 2009 movie. And who could forget the Brady Bunch episode that was filmed at Kings Island? A somewhat under-the-radar park, Water Wizz in Wareham, Massachusetts, will serve as a site for the movie, The Way, Way Back, now filming in the state.

A coming-of-age story, the plot concerns a teenager who befriends the manager of -- well, what do you know? -- a water park. The movie will feature Steve Carell, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell (who plays the manager), and Rob Corddry, among others. Its screenwriters and co-directors, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (who plays the hilarious Dean Pelton on NBC's uber-hillarious Community), won the Academy Award for their adapted screenplay of last year's The Descendants. Maybe they could get George Clooney to play one of the water park's ride attendants who checks the heights of riders. Read more about Water Wizz.


Parks Still Dealing in 2012

Another year, another round of deals. The economy may be showing some signs of improvement, but that doesn't mean theme parks have cut back on their special offers to lure reluctant visitors. Among some of the latest deals that caught my eye:

  • Save up to 30% at select Walt Disney World Resort hotels this spring
  • Discounted SeaWorld Orlando and Aquatica Tickets- Save $10 off the gate price and get the 2nd day free.
  • Experience One More Disney Day with an Extra Day and Night for Free with a 3-night, 3-day package
  • 2012 SeaWorld San Diego Fun Card- Get unlimited admission to the California throughout 2012 for the price of a single-day ticket.

See more special offers:

  • The latest Florida theme park deals
  • The latest California theme park deals

Connect with Arthur: Twitter | Facebook


Friday, August 10, 2012

Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Readers Choice Awards Best New Water Park Ride of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Theme Park Show of 2011
  • Best New Roller Coaster of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Readers Choice Awards Best New Roller Coaster of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Theme Park Show of 2011
  • Best New Water Park Ride of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Back from the Dead

It's always good news when a defunct theme park gets a new lease on life. That's why I'm happy to report that the shuttered Ghost Town in the Sky (which is sort of an ironic name at this point, eh?) will be reopening later this summer. According to the park, which is located in the Smoky Mountains community of Maggie Valley, North Carolina, the initial phase will include revving up the chairlift ride that shuttles visitors 3500 feet up Buck Mountain as well as the kiddie rides, a museum, and a restaurant that they will be able to explore when they disembark high in the sky. At the base of the mountain, the park is adding two new zip lines.

Future phases will include additional zip lines, the rehabilitation of the inclined railway that has not operated since 2002, the revitalization of the park's Western-themed attractions, including cowboy shows and can-can dancing, and a Holy Land at the highest elevations of the mountainside property. There is no word what will become of the park's coasters, Cliff Hanger and Tumbleweed.

Ghost Town in the Sky originally opened in 1961, but has had a troubled history that has included multiple closures and bankruptcy. Its current owner, Alaska Presley (great name!) is one of the park's original investors. Here's hoping she doesn't give up the ghost on the project.

  • Carowinds- North Carolina amusement park
  • Dollywood- Smoky Mountains theme park

Texas Water Park Has Weather Covered or Not

Schlitterbahn South Padre Island, part of the popular Schlitterbahn chain, has a popular beachfront water park that will open for the season in April. Starting in the summer, however, there will no longer be an off-season when the adjacent Schlitterbahn Beach Resort, a hotel and indoor water park, opens. Designed to provide year-round, bathing suit-clad fun, the indoor water park will have a retractable roof that will open to the outdoors on warmer, weather-cooperating days. Read more about the Texas water park, Schlitterbahn South Padre Island.

  • More Texas water parks
  • Find indoor water parks

Connect with Arthur: Twitter | Facebook

Photo: Schlitterbahn. Used with permission.


Water Wizz Gets Ready for Its Close Up

Theme parks and water parks often serve as locations for feature films and TV shows. Kennywood stood in for Adventureland in the eponymous 2009 movie. And who could forget the Brady Bunch episode that was filmed at Kings Island? A somewhat under-the-radar park, Water Wizz in Wareham, Massachusetts, will serve as a site for the movie, The Way, Way Back, now filming in the state.

A coming-of-age story, the plot concerns a teenager who befriends the manager of -- well, what do you know? -- a water park. The movie will feature Steve Carell, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell (who plays the manager), and Rob Corddry, among others. Its screenwriters and co-directors, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (who plays the hilarious Dean Pelton on NBC's uber-hillarious Community), won the Academy Award for their adapted screenplay of last year's The Descendants. Maybe they could get George Clooney to play one of the water park's ride attendants who checks the heights of riders. Read more about Water Wizz.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Readers Choice Awards Best New Water Park Ride of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Theme Park Show of 2011
  • Best New Roller Coaster of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Readers Choice Awards Best New Roller Coaster of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Theme Park Show of 2011
  • Best New Water Park Ride of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Readers Choice Awards Best New Theme Park Show of 2011

Voting for About.com's 2012 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring the best new acheivements for theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in 2011, begins Wednesday, February 22 and ends Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Users can vote once per day in each of the seven categories. Winners will be announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

Learn more about the Readers' Choice Awards for theme parks and water parks.

Vote in the other Readers' Choice Awards Categories:

  • Best New Theme Park Attraction of 2011
  • Best New Roller Coaster of 2011
  • Best New Water Park Ride of 2011
  • Best New Park Food of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Halloween Event of 2011
  • Best Theme Park Holidays Event of 2011

Note that users must provide an email address or log in via their Facebook or About.com accounts to vote. Votes are limited to one vote per award category per user per day, and any votes not originating from the about.com domain will be rejected. To ensure fairness, we have internal checks in place to detect fraudulent voting activity, and in some cases the poll results shown during voting may not reflect the accurate final counts used to determine winners.


Back from the Dead

It's always good news when a defunct theme park gets a new lease on life. That's why I'm happy to report that the shuttered Ghost Town in the Sky (which is sort of an ironic name at this point, eh?) will be reopening later this summer. According to the park, which is located in the Smoky Mountains community of Maggie Valley, North Carolina, the initial phase will include revving up the chairlift ride that shuttles visitors 3500 feet up Buck Mountain as well as the kiddie rides, a museum, and a restaurant that they will be able to explore when they disembark high in the sky. At the base of the mountain, the park is adding two new zip lines.

Future phases will include additional zip lines, the rehabilitation of the inclined railway that has not operated since 2002, the revitalization of the park's Western-themed attractions, including cowboy shows and can-can dancing, and a Holy Land at the highest elevations of the mountainside property. There is no word what will become of the park's coasters, Cliff Hanger and Tumbleweed.

Ghost Town in the Sky originally opened in 1961, but has had a troubled history that has included multiple closures and bankruptcy. Its current owner, Alaska Presley (great name!) is one of the park's original investors. Here's hoping she doesn't give up the ghost on the project.

  • Carowinds- North Carolina amusement park
  • Dollywood- Smoky Mountains theme park

Texas Water Park Has Weather Covered or Not

Schlitterbahn South Padre Island, part of the popular Schlitterbahn chain, has a popular beachfront water park that will open for the season in April. Starting in the summer, however, there will no longer be an off-season when the adjacent Schlitterbahn Beach Resort, a hotel and indoor water park, opens. Designed to provide year-round, bathing suit-clad fun, the indoor water park will have a retractable roof that will open to the outdoors on warmer, weather-cooperating days. Read more about the Texas water park, Schlitterbahn South Padre Island.

  • More Texas water parks
  • Find indoor water parks

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Photo: Schlitterbahn. Used with permission.


Water Wizz Gets Ready for Its Close Up

Theme parks and water parks often serve as locations for feature films and TV shows. Kennywood stood in for Adventureland in the eponymous 2009 movie. And who could forget the Brady Bunch episode that was filmed at Kings Island? A somewhat under-the-radar park, Water Wizz in Wareham, Massachusetts, will serve as a site for the movie, The Way, Way Back, now filming in the state.

A coming-of-age story, the plot concerns a teenager who befriends the manager of -- well, what do you know? -- a water park. The movie will feature Steve Carell, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell (who plays the manager), and Rob Corddry, among others. Its screenwriters and co-directors, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (who plays the hilarious Dean Pelton on NBC's uber-hillarious Community), won the Academy Award for their adapted screenplay of last year's The Descendants. Maybe they could get George Clooney to play one of the water park's ride attendants who checks the heights of riders. Read more about Water Wizz.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.


Seasoned Pros Shed Light on Best Dark Rides

The term "dark ride" has always bothered me. In the industry, it refers to any attraction in which a vehicle moves through an indoor space. Classic scary dark rides such as Coney Island's Spook-A-Rama were once amusement park staples. Many parks also had a tunnel of love that offered refuge for young (and not-so-young?) paramours who welcomed the dark hideaways. Contemporary dark rides have evolved into highly sophisticated attractions. Some, such as Disney's Haunted Mansion, maintain a scary theme, but others are decidedly sweet. It seems odd, for example, to refer to the gentle, colorful, and bright It's a Small World as a "dark ride."

Whatever they may be called -- story-based attractions, themed rides, theatrical rides, dark rides -- the Seasoned Pros List Show runs down the top 10 best ones on the latest podcast. The Seasoned Pros include Doug Barnes of the Season Pass Podcast, Joel Bullock of The Coaster Critic, and me. Joining us to offer his expertise and picks for the best themed rides is Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider. Give a listen, and see if your favorite attraction made the list.